Skillshare Help Center

In-Demand Topics

Looking for your next great class idea? This article highlights what Skillshare members are actively searching for, where we see opportunity and how you can use top-searched topics to help your content get discovered.

In this article:

How to Use This Data

Teachers frequently ask us: What kind of content are students looking for? This article is to help you answer that question, and to make sure your next class aligns with your passions and student demand. 

We’ve pulled together insights based on search trends and engagement data across Skillshare, highlighting:

  • Topics members are actively searching for
  • Insights from student interviews and/or class structures teachers tend to see success with
  • Common search topics (keywords) to help optimize your content for discovery in search

There are a few ways you can put this data into action:

  1. Find your next class topic. Start with what excites you within your area of expertise, then use this list to narrow in on high-interest areas or under-served niches that match this.
  2. Leverage for discovery. Already have a topic in mind? Use the topics as keywords here to inform your class title and description, so it’s easier for students to find.
  3. Expand your offerings. If you’re planning a 1-on-1 Session or digital product, these topics can help you identify what members might need support with or tools for.

Check back often! We update this page quarterly to reflect what members are searching for most.

What’s In Demand Right Now

These topics are trending based on search interest and class engagement. If you already offer classes, 1-on-1s or digital products in one of these categories, consider building on your existing content. If you’re exploring new ideas, use this information to spark inspiration.

  • Our top 10 searched topics on Skillshare are very consistently: Procreate, Blender, Watercolor, drawing, illustration, graphic design, After Effects, photography, Canva, and Figma.
  • Additional popular searches include: Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, Notion, Unreal Engine, Youtube, Gouache and Crochet.
  • Overall, we see the most consistent demand and continued opportunity for classes in the following categories: Art & Illustration, Design, Creative Career, Film & Video, Photography, Animation & 3D, and AI & Innovation. Want more details on topics by category? Check out our Top Search Topics by Category below. 
While other categories see less overall traffic and are promoted at a smaller scale, they still serve engaged, passionate audiences. If you're teaching in one of these areas, we encourage you to keep publishing! Even if your topic is more niche, there’s real value in building strong connections with your students and offering classes that serve their specific interests.

High Opportunity Areas

These are topics and class formats where we tend to see demand and hear an interest in from students. Consider how you can incorporate these insights into your class!

Challenge Classes and Bite-Sized Learning

We often hear from students that they have limited time in a day to dedicate to Skillshare and love when they can take a class in digestible ‘chunks’. In that vein, challenge classes — classes that guide students through a sequence of small, achievable projects over a defined time period — continue to perform well on Skillshare. These classes boost student engagement and project uploads, which are strong indicators of long-term retention and creative growth.

We encourage teachers to keep experimenting with this format as a way to help students build consistent habits and see progress over time. Think of it as a learning opportunity + community motivator, all in one!

While Art & Illustration topics, especially watercolor and drawing, tend to be a natural fit for this format, teachers have also seen success with journaling or creative prompt classes. Any class idea that offers a series of quick, shareable projects could make a great challenge class.

Ready to launch your own challenge class?

Clarity Meets Personality

One thing we hear again and again is how much students value connecting with Skillshare teachers. This is part of what makes Skillshare unique: the ability to learn from someone whose approach resonates with you, who brings their own perspective, and who’s teaching something you’re genuinely excited to explore. At the same time, many students arrive with a specific goal in mind and are looking for clear guidance on where to start - and where to go next.

We encourage you to offer both. Set expectations upfront by clearly outlining what students will gain from your class, while also infusing your teaching with your personal story. How did you learn this skill? What sparked your own learning journey? And once students finish the class and complete their project, what should they do next?

Classes focused on AI for Creatives

Aligned with our AI Principles, we know  Skillshare can be a meaningful destination for creators and creative people to learn and explore how to use AI effectively and ethically without replacing what makes creativity so powerful: the human behind it.

Keep in mind: you don’t need to be an AI expert to teach in this area. AI is ever-evolving and we’re all explorers here! If you’re using AI to streamline your creative process or grow your business, there’s likely an audience eager to learn from your experience, even in a short class. Just be sure to go beyond the hype: members are looking for practical, thoughtful guidance they can apply to their own work.

Since AI is non-stop and ever-changing, we continue to be interested in showcasing how you’re exploring AI as a creative now and the results you’re seeing with it. When it comes to AI, we’re all learning together. Think about:

We’re interested in classes that showcase:

  • how you’re using different tools (e.g. Nano Banana, chatGPT), 
  • …for different applications (e.g. image generation, workflow simplification)...
  • …across a multitude of categories (e.g. Design, Film & Video, Art & Illustration)

While this is not an exhaustive list and we’re interested in all the ways you’re exploring this topic, here are some examples of areas we see based on popular tooling and where we’re already seeing search demand on Skillshare:

  • Canva’s AI tools, including Magic Studio and Canva AI
  • Notion AI, such as the Chat Assistant, One-click Skills, and Research Mode
  • AI tools for video production, like Descript, CapCut, and Runway
  • AI features across Adobe’s suite of products

There is definitely an opportunity for short classes here and we encourage you to think about that format!

Top Search Topics By Category

Last updated: January 2026

 

Art & Illustration

Procreate, watercolor, drawing, illustration, Adobe Illustrator, gouache, character design, painting, digital art, sketching, lettering and acrylic

 

Design

Graphic design, Figma, Adobe Photoshop, Canva, Affinity Designer, logo design, Adobe Indesign, logo, web design.
 

Creative Career

Branding, Etsy, Instagram, LinkedIn, newsletter, Patreon, Pinterest, Reels, Shopify, Shorts, social media, Substack, TikTok.

Tip: Regardless of your topic, think about how you’ve leveraged these tools to grow your own business. Many students are looking to grow their own and want to figure out how to use these tools to do so!

Film & Video

Adobe After Effects, film, YouTube, DaVinci Resolve, video editing, CapCut, Adobe Premiere Pro, motion graphics, Final Cut Pro.

Tip: Consider how your short-form classes (e.g. quick tips or highlight reels) can serve as an entry point to your deeper, long-form content.

Photography

Food photography, iPhone photography, Lightroom, photo editing, portraits, product photography.

 

Animation & 3D

Blender, animation, Unreal Engine, Cinema 4d, ZBrush, Procreate Dreams, Unity, 2D animation, Sketchup, Nomad Sculpt.

 

AI & Innovation

AI as a term sees a lot of searches, indicating for us people are keen to learn how you’re leveraging AI tools in your creative practice and within top search terms. Other tools we see demand for include Adobe Firefly, ChatGPT, Midjourney, Runway, Capcut, Notion and Canva AI tools

 

Crafts & DIY

Crochet and Sewing are our most popular searches in this category., Embroidery, fashion, fashion design and knitting also tend to see some traction. For the most part, crafts and DIY projects that are more accessible and require fewer significant supply purchases will likely see more traction

Tip: Consider how you can encourage your students to stick with their practice via building daily habits and baking practice time into their routine.

Creativity & Inspiration

Portfolio, portfolio development, journaling.

 

Music & Audio

Ableton, FL Studio, guitar, music production, music theory, piano, singing.

 

Productivity

Notion, Airtable, bullet journal, journaling, Notion, Obsidian, project management, time management.

 

Writing & Publishing

Blogging, content writing, copywriting, creative writing, storytelling.

 

Marketing & Business

Branding, storytelling, digital marketing, Google ads, Instagram marketing, Microsoft Excel, SEO, social media marketing.

 

Development

C, coding, Elementor, Framer, Javascript, Python, web development, Wordpress.

 

Home & Lifestyle

Baking, cooking, interior design, mindfulness, organization.

 

Personal Development

Journaling, meditation.

 

Content that focuses or touches on restricted topics may be removed by our Moderation team. Our guidelines for what content we prohibit varies by offering:

 



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